Zardana was third and Will O Way fourth, followed by Miss Silver Brook and Cherryblossommiss.

She won on her bobblehead day.

It was Zenyatta’s third start of the year, having won the Santa Margarita by 1¼ lengths at Santa Anita on March 13, and the Apple Blossom by 4¼ lengths at Oaklawn Park on April 9.

OK, now it’s time for Zenyatta to be even more special to the sport. John Shirreffs and Mr. Music Man, Jerry Moss, make plans to come to Saratoga for a summer summit with Quality Road in the Whitney or Woodward. If Rachel Alexandra is back, bring her along, too.

Perhaps NYRA will waive the detention barn for this one. They should do everything they can to make sure the best horses run in the biggest races. The Breeders’ Cup is one thing and we know it’s the ultimate goal.

Do the sport right. Get the stars of the sport together in the starting gate. Who knows? It might even bring a sport starving for fans one or two or three more.

We are in 2010? NOt 2009? What Ra did in 2009 is moot now and it dont matter or have any bearings on anything at this years end.
The awards for this year will not care what her 2009 season was, she was rewarded for that but it’s a season not a career, remember, thats what you all said last year about zen, NOw the shoe is on the other foot……….This year Ra is taking the Back Seat………her 2010 resume sure aint going to get her a HOTY repeat? If so , we will know for sure that JJ has bought and paid for it……….

Sixto:
“it’s not the times nor Beyers speed numbers that REALLY count, but whom you actually beat”
And Zenyatta is beating nobody on the West Coast.

“Zenyatta gained one point on Quality Road…”
Grasping at straws, are we?

“Not one of those aforementioned female “greats” EVER raced in California”
Why race in the “Minors”??

“can you please tell me why this “expand the horizon” stuff is always thrown at Zenyatta…”
Well, if you know racing Sixto, and I assume you are trying, then you know Saratoga is the “Big Time”..the “Majors”. You don’t race at Spa, you don’t race against the best at the greatest Racing Meet in the world, period. All the best horse in training will be here in 3 weeks. Count on it. As well as the greatest fan base in all Racing. By far.
That’s the “Majors”, son. Everything else is second best.

knew the 2009 landscape was littered with weak horses except for Zenyatta

RE: Thats why he continues to duck her today. Thats why Ra never raced the older fillies division last year, So he could dodge Zen . 2010, hopefully in August RA will finally win a grade one race against grade one older fillies and mares……..we will have to see. we have seen her train good before, but then she comes up on one of those highly fast determined older mares…………

Kathleen:
“East coast snobbery, SJ. I think we’re pretty tired of the east coast horses given a pass for not traveling, but the west coast horses aren’t”.

HUH????
So going from Belmont/Aqueduct in NY to Gulfstream in Fla. to Churchill/Keenland in Kentucky to Monmouth in New Jersey and back to Saratoga in NY is just like going from Santa Anita to Hollywood and Del Mar, right?

Sixto,
If you post your address I’ll send you your very own Woodward/Rachel hat. I’ll spin once just for you. Imagine having greatness on top of your noggin. You sure can’t say your head is empty then!

Waiting to see the posts bashing RA for not racing at the ‘majors’. I’m curious to see posters on this blog spin racing in an ungraded stakes at Monmouth as another example of RA’s BRUTAL 2010 campaign. If it’s not back to back HOY’s for her, something is wrong.

Saratoga, do you deliberately misconstrue? The east coast snobbery was in reference to the put down you threw out about California Tracks and California racing. As far as traveling, the reference was from east to west, west to east, not north to south and back.
I admire your passion for the sport, just tired of the put downs.

qwerty, I’m sick of the bashing. Bashing Zen, bashing RA, bashing California racing. It makes me doubt that these people are true fans of the sport if they can so freely disparage the current icons of the sport or the major tracks where they run.

And you’re right – the east coast bias media does give free passes to their own. That list of female greats from New York would of never passed the test today, not with the internet and such. No way and no how.

Adam, that may be the most retarded statement EVER on this blog…ANYBODY knows that all the BEST come to SARATOGA to win a race there (owners, trainers and jocks)..not any of the so-called tracks you mentioned…all two-year old maiden specials, all the stakes….SARATOGA,,,,,not CAli/Poly…..some of the people who try to use their own logic just end up embarrassing themselves…and Quality Road, the BEST HORSE IN TRAINING, will be racing at Saratoga…Saratoga doesn’t need Zenyatta, Zenyattas connections need SARATOGA and it would only be a positive for her

I’m a huge Zen fan and have for forty years been thrilled when a California horse goes East and wins a big stakes race. Zen would add to her legacy in leaps and bounds if she went east and won at Saratoga or Belmont. That she’s pointing for the The Clement Hirch- the Clement who?–is the biggest bummer of my summer.

Adam:
What a dumb statement.
Most of those cars from Conn, Mass, etc are Mercedes, Lexuses, BMW’s, etc. The town fills up with top end rides in August. With “people who couldn’t afford elsewhwere”. LOL
Your just jealous that your old Chevy Corsica is not up to the trip!

Keith:
Well said. It would be an incredible boost to her legacy to come East and win at the oldest and most historic track in the country. At the greatest Meet with the greatest attendance an highest para-mutual totals…..Hell it’s the Big Time!
She would be a star here.

popinjays………lol. Envy? I would rather see races at Del Mar any day of the week. The facility is beautiful, it’s right next to the beach, and the weather can’t be beat. I used to love to see the race horses playing in the waves when I was a kid. You’re obviously proud of Saratoga, and rightly so, but it’s not nirvana. Give it a rest, Saratoga AJ, quit putting everything and everyone else down because their opinions and tastes are different than yours.

Kathleen:
I was at Del Mar last Summer and it is indeed a beautiful venue. Loved the Bing Crosby restaurant…great pics.
Except for that crappy fake track surface of course, the one that caused close to 20 fatalities at the 2009 Meet.
Meanwhile there was ONE at Saratoga last year. So much for that “safer” surface! Being a horse owner and lover, that must have made you sick.

Saratoga, the reason I watch replays instead of live feeds is because of the fatalities. I will say, however, that Del Mar has always had more than it’s fair share of fatalities. You think it’s bad on race day, you should see morning works. Tragic. BTW, I’m not now, nor have I ever been a fan on Poly, but it is what it is.

What AJ is not telling you is that although there was only one race related fatality last year on the Saratoga dirt track, 14 others committed suicide because of depression due to all the rains, humidity, and races taken off the grass due to monsoonal downpours.

But seriously, it appears that nearly all the fatal breakdowns at Del Mar last year were related to the sesamoids, an injury related more to training intensity prior to the actual races themselves.

Also, there is the fierce competition to win that one only finds at Del Mar, as opposed to the laid back, vacation atmosphere of Saratoga. As Dr. Rick Arthur, equine director for the California Horse Racing Board, said “You will have a hard time believing this,” Arthur said, but in terms of racing fatalities per start, Del Mar’s main track is better than its historical average to 2004. “They are better off with this surface than they were with dirt. Del Mar is a very intense place to race. People want to win races there. Everyone is trying hard, maybe too hard.”

well since we won’t get to see Zenyatta at the Spa, no way racing August 7th she will be ready to run before Labor Day, maybe we will get to see Rail Trip who was taken from Ron Ellis and will be sent to NY under Dutrow….the owners want to see if RT can run on dirt!!!